Sheet moistening device for duplicators



.lune 8, 1937.

F. W. STORCK SHEET MOISTNING DEVICE FOR DUPLICATORS Filed Jan. 1s, 19362 sheets-smet 1 June 8, 1937. F. W. sToRCK -SHEET MOISTENING DEVICE FORDUPLI Filed Jan. 15, 193s CATORS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented June 8, 1937.UNITED vSTATES SHEET MOISTENING DEVICE FOR DUPLICATORS Frederick W.Storck, Arlington. Mass., assignor to Standard Mailing Machines Company,Everett, Mass., a.- Lcorporation oi Massachusetts Application January13, 1936,. Serial No. 58,803

7 Claims.

This invention relates to duplicating machines in which a record is madeon a sheet of paper or the like with ink characters formed in reversewith a suitable copying ink and reproduced therefrom as positive copieson duplicate sheets of paper or the like and my present inventionrelates more particularly to a moistening device adaptable to machinesof the lreferred to character for moistening the face of the sheet to bedupli- 10 cated upon prior to its engagement with the record copy.

In duplicating machines of the herein referred to character, whichutilize the so-called wet process of duplicating, the clear sheet 415 tobe duplicated upon is moistened for the purpose ,of dissolving a minuteamount of the 'copying ink imprinted in reverse on the master or recordcopy sheet and to be transferred to the clear sheet when engaged underpressure with the master copy.

y To obtain desired and eicient results lin duplicating with thereferred to machines and process of duplicating, itis essential tolutilize the medium of the moistened sheet to divide the 5 copying inkof the master copy sheet into the number of duplicate copiesdesired'.'This desired number of duplicate copies may vary up to 200 or more.

While the character kof the copying ink, fluid and paper to beduplicated upon has a direct bearing on the lnumber of duplicate copiesobtainable, this is to a minor degree only. The essential requirement isto obtain the maximum number of clear, sharp duplicate copiespermissible from the particular character` of. the

paper and ink to be used.

To obtain this desired maximum number of copies, the clear sheet to beduplicated upon must be moistened to an extremely limited extent, thatis, the sheet must be uniformly and suiiiciently moistened to, whenengaged under pressure with the master copy, dissolve only suillcient ofthe master copying ink to reproduce a clear, sharp copy of the master onthe clear sheet. If the clear sheet to be duplicated upon carries anexcess of moisture, when it is engaged with the master copying ink, anexcess of the ink will be dissolved therefrom and deposited on the clearsheet, thus resulting in fewer copies being obtainable from the mastercopy..

Itis obvious from the above requirements thatA the control of themoisture to be applied to the clear sheet is of paramount importance.

In my U. S. Letters Patent No. 1,964,933 I have shown a device forcontrolling the fluid and;

while the essential features shown therein are not limited thereto, thisdevice is particularly adapted, in this referred to patent, to moistenthe under face of the clear sheet to be duplicated upon. One of thereferred to essential characterlstics forthe control of the fluid, andas disclosed in' my referred to patent, embodies an intermediateapplicator to which fluid is supplied from a bibulous material. Fluid issupplied to and diffused by the bibulous material which, in 10 Iturn,supplies kmoisture to the intermediate applicator and where the fluid isfurther diffused and limited for application to the face of a clearsheet as the clear sheet is engaged under pressure with the applicator.

In my present invention which, While not necessarily limited thereto, isparticularly adapted for moistening the upper face of a clear sheet andin which I utilize the principles of my intermediate applicator with thebibulous material I have so arranged it that only a portion of the fluidsup- Vplied to the bibulous material will, in turn, be

control of the uid fed to the bibulous material has been effected bymeans of lifting or conf 35 trolling valves or devices for regulatingthe dropping of the fluid into the bibulous material. With the use ofthe heretofore known devices expert attention is required to regulatethe supply of fluid and which requirement may vary 4-0 according toconditions.

Further, if inadvertently the operator omits to close the supply valve,the lower portion which is adapted for engagement Withthe clear sheetbecomes over-saturated and the iluid will drip 45 therefrom withattendant disadvantages and Waste of the fluid, and upon furtheroperation of the machine without rectifying this excessive accumulationof moisture, by replacement or otherwise, the sheets will be excessivelymoistened and thereby resulting in blurred duplicate copies beingobtained from the master copy, and in many instances the master copywill be ruined by engagement with the first copy sheet so excessivelymoistened. Accordingly, the object of my present 55 invention is toprovide a device for moistening the upper `face of a clear sheet to beduplicated upon with a limited amount of a rapidly volatilizing fluid.andto uniformly distribute the fluid moisture to the face of the sheetto be duplicated upon.

A furtherobject is to provide a device that will require but a minimumof attention on the part of the operator in the control of/the uidsupply.

Another object of my invention is to provide a moistening device forduplicators that is eflicient and of a simpliiled construction and soarranged that excessive moisture will not accumulate to be deposited onthe clear sheet to be duplicated upon.

15 With the above and other objects in view my invention comprises anovel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described andmore speciiically pointed out in the appended claims.

20 While not limited thereto, in the accompanying drawings I haveillustrated a preferred form of' my invention sufcient to enable thoseskilled in the art to understand the construction and operation thereof.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a transverse section of a wet process duplicator having myimproved moistening device embodied therewith.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken substantially 30 along line 2-2,Fig. 1. with -some of the moistening device broken away to expose theinterior construction, and l Fig. v3 is a sectional view ofa'm'odiiication of my moistening device.

35 As illustrated in the drawings, the duplicating machine is providedwith opposed side'frames I0 which support the elements of the machine.The printing platen or drum II is rotatably mounted in suitable bearingsin the side frames o IIJ and is provided with a coacting pressure rollerIIa.

In this instance, I have shown opposed feed rollers I2, I3 which areadapted to engage one another under pressure. 'I'hese rollers are adapt-45 ed to berotated, through suitable driving connections, not shown, ina direct relation to the rotation of the printingplaten Il A machineembodying the aforementioned elements with their driving connections andmeans for opera- 50 tion is completely shown and described, but withsome of the elements in different positions, in my U. S. Letters PatentNo. 1,964,933, therefore, further detailed description of theconstruction and operation of these duplicating machine elements 55 isthought unnecessary.

The moistening receptacle I4 is pivotally supported within the sideframes, in this instance by studs ,|5, I5. The receptaclecomprisesig'pposed side walls, I4a, I4b and opposed end walls 00 llc,I4d and an enclosed bottom I4g which is adapted to form a catch basinfor a purpose hereinafter described.

The receptacle I4 is provided with a lateral portion I4h which ,isadapted to receive and support a readilyv'ifemovable strip or wick I1 ofbibulous material. lI his wick I1 is adapted to extend inwardly to,engage with the body of bibulous material I8 which is supported within70 the receptacle, and extends below the wick I 1 and adjacent the catchbasin portion I4a of the receptacle. The outer extending portion of saidwick I1 is adapted for engagement with the peripheral face of the rollerI2.

-A conduit I8 is lecurcd to the upper portion of the receptacle and, inthis instance, is provided with an elbow 20 adapted to receive andsupport the spout 2i of a rellable reservoir 22 from which iluid issupplied to the moistening device. A control valve, not shown, of any ofthe usual and well known structures, may be disposed between thereservoir 22 and the conduit for regulating the discharge of iiuigl fromthe reservoir. It is obvious that various devices may be utilized forsupplying fluid to the receptacle I4 which contains the bibulousmaterial such, for example, as stated supra. The conduit I8 illustratedis provided with a plurality of small openings I9a which are disposed inthe lower portion of the conduit and communicate with the bibulousmaterial I8.

As aforesaid, the uid is supplied to the conduit I9, and, through theopenings I9a, drops onto and saturates the bibulous material I8 in thereceptacle I4. Over-saturation of this bibulous material I8 will causean accumulation of the iluid to take place at the lower depending end ofthis bibulous material I8 and this excess fluid will drop therefrom intothe receptacle catch basin I4g from which the fluid is discharged,

through the conduit 23, into a suitable receptacle 24.

The bibulous material or wicky I1 engages the bibulous material I8 anddiffuses the limited moisture received therefrom by capillary action.This wick I1 being disposed above the lowermost horizontal plane of thedepending portion of the bibulous material I8, it is not subjected to anexcess accumulation as is this referred to depending portion. f

In this particular instance, the reservoir 22 is so angularly disposedrelative to the pivotal point of the receptacle as to cause pressure tobe exerted by the wick I1 as it engages the peripheral face of theroller I 3 although, it is obvious that this pressure may be effected invarious ways as, for example, by means of a tension spring or likedevice.

At Fig. 1 I have illustrated my wick I1 disposed at a downwardly slopingangle relative to the bibulous material I8 but the lower-most point ofthe wick I1 is disposed above the lower terminating plane of thebibulous material I8.

At Fig. 3 I have shown a modification of my moistening device andwherein the lateral portion I4k of the receptacle4 I4 is disposed at aslightly elevated angle relative to the receptacle I4 and thus the wick2B would eiect substantially an up-wicking of the fluid from thebibulous material I8.

The wicks I1 or 25 may be disposed in either angular relationship and invarying degrees, but

in either event, to eilect an efilcient control of,

the fluid application, the lowermost plane of the wick should bedisposed above the lowermost terminating point of the bibulous materialfrom which the wick receives its supply of moisture.

As the rollers I2, 'I3 are rotated, the wick I1 will apply a thin filmof fluid to the roller l2. this thin lm is further diffused by thesurface attraction of the roller and it, when engaged with a sheet to beduplicated upon, uniformly applies gs tlimited diffused moisture to thefaceof the ee In the operation of my moistening device the sheets-to be,duplicated upon are placed upon a -suitable support having a guideplate 28 which is disposed in substantial alignment with the bight 21formed by the rollers I2, I3. This guide plate 26 is disposed in aspaced relation below the moistenlng device and is adapted to positionthe advanced forward end of the sheet in and against the bight 21 whilethe rollers I2, I3 are at rest.

When the rollers I2, I3 are actuated, the sheet is advanced by andbetween the rollers and moisture applied to the applicator roller istransferred to the upper face of the advancing sheet and thereby thissheet is provided with a limited uniformly distributed moisture.

As the moistened sheet is advanced, by the rollers I2, I3, it isdirected for engagement by and between the pressure roller IIa and theprinting platen II which then act as the feeding elements to advance andengage the moistened sheet under pressure with the master copy as setforth in my hereinbefore referred to patent.

The present embodiment of my moistening device is to be construed asillustrative, as obviously modifications may be made therein by those Askilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of myinvention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a machine of the character described for duplicating from a mastercopy sheet; a moistening device embodying an applicator adapted toengage with said sheet under pressure, a bibulous material in engagementwith said applicator, a second body of bibulous material angularlydisposed relative to said iirst bibulous material and in engagementtherewith, said second bibulous material having a portion dependingbelow the lowest point of said rst material with means to supply saidsecond bibulous material with moisture.

2. In a machine of the character described for duplicating from a mastercopy sheet; a moisteningp device embodying an applicator adapted toengage with said sheet under pressure, a iiuid receiving and drainingdevice, a bibulous material in engagement with said applicator, a secondbody of bibulous material in engagement with said first body of materialand having a portion depending below the lowest point of said first bodyand disposed relative to said iiuid receiving and draining device andmeans to supply said second body of bibulous material with moisture.

3. In a duplicating machine of the character specified; a moisteningdevice embodying opposed rotative rollers which are adapted to' engagesaidsheet to 'be moistened under pressure, with means for rotating saidrollers, a body of bibulous material in engagement with -the portion ofthe peripheral face of Aone of said rollers, a second body of bibulousmaterial angularly disposed relative to said first bibulous material andin engagement therewith, said last bibulous material having a portiondepending below the lowest point of said first material, with means tovsupply said second bibulous material with moisture.

` 4. A duplicating machine of the character specified having incombination therewith a' moistening device which includes abibulousmaterial in longitudinal engagement with a portion of the peripheralface of the uppermost of said rollers, bibulous material angularlydisposed relative to said first bibulous material and in engagementtherewith, said last bibulous material having a portion thereofdepending below the lowest point of said iirst material, with means tosupply said second bibulous material withI moisture.

5. In a machine of the character speciiled for duplicating onto clearsheets and the like from tion depending below the horizontal plane ofsaid,

lateral material, with means to supply moisture to the uppermost area ofsaid material.

6. In a machine of the character specified for duplicating onto clearsheets and the like from a master copy sheet; a device for moisteninglthe upper face of said sheet to be duplicated upon, said deviceembodying opposed rotative feed rollers disposed one above the other andwhich are adapted to engage with one another under pressure, areceptacle pivotally disposed in front of said rollers and having adischarge conduit associated with the lowermost portion thereof, alateral receptacle integral with said rst receptacle and communicatingtherewith, lsaid lateral receptacle being disposed above said dischargeconduit, a bibulous material disposed vwithin said vfirst receptacle, areadily removable bibulous material disposed within said secondreceptacle, said last material being adapted for engagement with saidfirst material and to engage under pressure with the peripheral face ofsaid uppermost roller,.withv means to supply moisture to said iirstbibulous material.

7; In a machine for duplicating asset forth in claim 5 wherein saidfirst moistening device receptacle is pivoted for movement toward andaway from said rollers and whereby said second bibulous material may bereadily removed and replaced.

f FREDERICK W. STORCK.

